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Radiation Levels Are Low in Azumino and Nagano Area

The number of overseas travellers to all over Japan decreased dramatically after the 3.11 earthquake hit the Tohoku area. Especially people involved in the tourism industry really hope things will recover.

Azumino is 300km far from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.
Matsumoto, a neighboring town of Azumino, made an Information on Radiation” page. Nagano Prefecture announces reports in Announcements on the top page.

Azumino City Office measured radioiodine and radioactive cesium in all five water supply resouces in Azumino on April 22 and no such radioactive substances were found.

We really appreciate that many people all over world have made monetary contributions to a relief fund. But we still need your support by visiting Japan!

The right photo is a clean river and water mill in Daiõ Wasabi Farm I visited this month.

As for the Wasabi Farm, see also this blog in JAPANiCAN.com.

Mount Jonen Hike Oct 2010

I climbed Mt. Jonen, 2857m (9373 ft), in the Japan Alps on October 11. It was just before the trail`s peak is covered by snow (usually snow falls before Oct 11, but this year snowfall was late because of global warming).

It is a 8-9 hour hike, so you can possibly go on a one-day hike from early morning if the condition is not bad.

After walking up a long trail enjoying the beautiful fall foliage, suddenly the famous Mt. Yari, 3180 m (10433 ft), came in to my sight, at Jonen-Nokkoshi. It was an amazing experience.

Then I left my rucksack by the side of the Jonen Hut and climbed up to the summit of Mt. Jonen (a one and half hour tougher hike than expected).
It was a perfectly sunny day.
At the top, I could see most of the mountains of Japan Alps and Mt Fuji.

See Alex’s blog article about the access to the trailhead to Mt. Jonen.

Hiking and Biking in Azumino

This October, I enjoyed hiking and biking in Azumino.
One sunny day, I walked along an old railroad track. It was discontinued 20 years ago. The rails were taken away and an unpaved flat, straight route remains. So, it’s a perfect walking route without any traffic. I enjoyed a 15 km hike through the beautiful and peaceful woods.

There is a cool unused brick tunnel that was built 100 years ago. The course it getting popular among Japanese this year. I think it’s attractive also for foreign travelers since you can walk from JR Akashina Station.

The other day, I rented a bike from a bike shop near Hotaka Station and enjoyed biking along a really beautiful river near the wasabi farm with foreigners members of this site.
Azumino is one of the most fascinating places for hiking and biking in Japan!

Full Opening Of This Site

We celebrated the opening of our new English Web site for Azumino on June 7th. Since our pre-open in January, we added links for the “Tourist Info Center”, “Suggested Routes & Map”, “Eating Out”, “Events”, and “Guestbook”. We encourage and look forward to any posts, comments, or questions in the Guestbook!

On our opening day, we celebrated with a BBQ party at Tenpyo-no-mori BBQ house at Mt. Nagamine. We enjoyed the food, nature and fantastic view from the mountain and hope our website will help you also enjoy the hidden wonders of the Azumino valley and Japanese Alps range.

There is such an enormous wealth of events, galleries, and changing activity in the Azumino valley that we hope you will continue to check-in with the website for new posts and information as the year continues!

Hiking & Climbing Season

April and May sees the start of the hiking season in Azumino.

We climbed Mt. Hikarijoyama on April 18th. We enjoyed a great view of the cherry blossom canopy and the Alps.
Mt. Hikarijoyama is 912m high and can be climbed by people of all ages and abilities starting in March.

Azumino is also a ‘gateway’ to mountains in the Japanese Alps, such as Mt. Yari, Mt. Hotaka, Mt. Jonen and Mt. Tsubakuro, which are some of most popular mountains among climbers in Japan.

This year, there wasn’t as much snowfall as in the past, resulting in easier spring climbs in the higher mountains. But mountains like can have snow until June or July, so be prepared with the right equipment!

Stagione - Italian restaurant selected in “Zagat Survey in Nagano”

I went to Stagione, which was listed as the second best Italian restaurant in the Zagat Survey in Nagano (published this March in Japanese).
It is located in a good place in the Hotaka area and you can see authentic rural Japanese scenery and a wonderful view of the Japan Alps from its wide window.
As Zagat reported, the restaurant is very neat (perhaps too “neat” for a place to eat), the dishes and desserts are tasty and stylish like the photo, and it’s not so expensive.

Zagat Survey is a guidebook (also called “American Michelin Guide"). It has a voting system that relies on locals. They ranked restaurants and hotels in Nagano using the result of 5,000 votes.

Departure of Swans

There are two “swan lakes” in Azumino. 500 to 2000 swans come from places in the north, like Siberia in October through December and stay in Azumino for the winter. The number of swans that winter in Azumino depends on the year (this year there were about 500).
Starting last month, February, and ending in April, the swans are to fly north. This year, the swans started departing earlier than ordinary years because of the warm winter.
In Azumino, we can see many other birds that migrate,like wild ducks.
I hope they reach Siberia safely, bear their babies, and come back to Nagano with their kinds next autumn!